A New Kind of Easter Eggs, Tradition and Mess

Easter morning as a child in the Hinson house meant getting dressed in our best, most floral and puffy dresses (usually matching ones) and attending church with our entire family. Then home to crowd around the kitchen table and decorate easter eggs, followed by an egg hunt on the lawn, and candy filled easter baskets to sugar us up before we crahsed out for the night.

Now, to clarify, Easter became so much more than this to us as we grew older. The reality of the true meaning of Easter, that Christ died so that we might live, the GREATEST story of Grace....that all came along at an early age as well in our house. We've already started Easter traditions centered around the story of the Cross with Liam so that he too will know it from very early on.
But let's be honest....the part kids really remember from the first to say their 4th or 5th Easter, is the eggs. Eggs filled with candy, eggs filled with money, decorating and dying EGGS!!
And that's okay, their just babies! And I love family traditions! Those times we shared with all of my 7 cousins, crowded around my nana's kitchen table to take turns dropping eggs in dye were priceless.
And oh the messes we made!!
The spilt dye, the smashed and stinky eggs! I want Liam to have the experience of dying eggs but until he is older and can participate in the "mess", I thought up a new way. A more permanent route (because let's face it, noone keeps those stinky eggs!).
My new way--Wooden Eggs.
We found them at Hobby Lobby--go figure--for 40% off of $3.99 for a four pack.
Liam enjoyed painting them just like I recall enjoying dying Easter eggs way back when.  I think every year I'll use them in our Easter decorations around the house. Even though eventually we will switch to dying real eggs, maybe we will just start doing both and add to our decorations each year. With a little modge podge they are sealed for life!
A new Atkinson tradition of our own, along with sharing the story of Grace at 5 a.m. cuddled in bed with mom and dad with a picture book. Oh and the floral dresses, suits and candy filled Easter baskets. ;)

The Insomniac Toddler

I look at this blog title and just laugh today. Nap-time. Who gets nap-times anymore? (I've tried enacting nap-times at work with no luck thus far.)

These past few weeks, Liam has forgotten that he is a toddler and not a newborn anymore. He's decided he prefers a newborn's sleeping pattern, and I've decided to never have another newborn again.....KIDDING!! 

I have decided to wear ear plugs at night though, and maybe sleep with my head under a pillow. 

Or just sleep in the yard. 

Preferably in a tent.

Just saying.

Anyway, this insomniac Liam has got to go. Our night night prayers with him have started turning into "and wake him with the morning light.....but not until the morning light. Preferably closer to 7 than 5."  The following have all, ALL, been tried (and failed) in an attempt to regain our sanity sleep.

• Pick him up and rock him. --Even though everyone and everything told us "don't pick them up!!!" We did, we regret, let's move on.
• Leave him lying and pat/rub his tummy/back. --That's if we can keep him lying down at all.
• Sit in his rocker across the room and sing/shush him.. --Insert nap in the chair here.
• Put him on the couch with us because we refuse to have a "only sleeps in our bed" relapse.  --Insert hours of squirmy giggles and demands for tv time here.
• Let him cry it out. --This used to work like a charm on Liam when he truly was an infant.  "Used to" being the key word here. 
• And my least favorite....stern voice and a spank on the behind. (Always carried out by his dad.)

After last nights 2 hour 47 minute nights sleep nap, I feel as if I've lost what sanity I may have had left. (Also "may" being the key word.)

Tonight, there will be Benadryl, Benadryl for everyone!  All those in favor say "I", all those opposed say you'll be at my house from 11pm to 3am tonight.

Any takers??  I thought not.

One Month Later

This morning when I woke up my heart was very heavy. I wanted nothing more than to be left alone, all alone, the entire day.... But arranged weeks ago was a day full of things I had to do and attend. I know God knew well in advance that today would be long and dreary for me, so he made sure to fill it packed full of my closest family and friends from sun up to sun down. And I truly wouldn't have it any other way.
It started off with this beautiful reminder that his mercies are new every single morning.

Lunch with my two boys, a three hour car ride with my sweet sister and bro-in-law to enjoy my oldest friends wedding and dinner with my sweet family.

Tonight my heart, though missing a tiny piece, is very, very full indeed.

Our Sandlot

Hello from our sandlot!!
Liam is having a blast playing in our "sandlot" or I should say sand circle, before we cover it up with last years pool!
(It was our poor attempt at leveling our patch of yard for the inflatable pool!)
For right now it's his new domain. Kids and sandboxes go together like ants and sugar.....moms and sand however.... well we go together like lent on your toothbrush.... Impossible to remove!!!

Braille Blocks

We have been making and selling Braille blocks for home decor! Any words in any colors! Both blogs (throughliamseyes.com and amymeredithatkinson.blogspot.com ) will both be posting new ones as we craft more and more! For purchasing please visit Amy's Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/amymeredith

All proceeds to charities for kids with albinism!

The Most Valuable Piece of Jewelry I Own

My charm necklace.
It's been a growing work-in-progress of my favorite charms, for three or so years now.
It started with this single, solitary diamond heart, from my wonderful husband, on Christmas morning while I was pregnant with Liam.

 I don't remember ever taking it off until the second charm came about, my first Mother's Day, just two weeks before I delivered Liam.  It was perfect!

Then came the third and fourth charms just this past week.  Sometime, during the weekend when I told Brian he was going to be a dad again, he mentioned he would soon have to add another charm to my collection.
And so he did.....Not in the way that we expected, but in a way that's close to my heart....The happiest memories of our joyful giggles of excitement captured in a simple charm, of the day we found out about sweet baby #2.....A gentle reminder every day that this world is not our home.